Sign construction



P 1954 R. L. CARLETON 3,148,471

SIGN CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 10, 1960 INVENTOR ffo/zaniy/efon ,4 ORNEY- United States Patent 3,148,471 SIGN CONSTRUCTION Richard L. Carleton, Raytown, Mm, assignor to Butler Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Missouri Filed Nov. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 68,571 2 Claims. (C1. 40-125) This invention relates to a sign construction and refers more particularly to a lock seam, integral, panel array and suspension means therefor adaptable to and mountable on a great variety of supports, including building walls and truck sides.

An object of the invention is to provide a sign construction having a minimum depth which is adapted to both truck and wall mountings and use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal sign, preferably aluminum, which is of a minimum thickness, maximum strength, yet has quality, accurate construction and optimal appearance.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal, preferably aluminum, sign which is adaptable to both wall and truck side wall mountings, which does not require cleaning or maintenance and which has a picture frame molding which improves appearance, aids in sign support and protects the edges of the sign panels.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal sign adapted for both wall and truck side mountings which can be shipped knocked down, yet which is easily assembled and mounted by several methods.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign adapted for both wall and truck side mountings of metal construction having a completely smooth front face with a minimum of oil canning, denting, bending, flexibility, and the like, yet still of extreme thinness.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wall and truck side sign construction which permits access to the attachment bolts at all times by removal of the panelling, while yet leaving the molding in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a sign having uniform depth back support elements for maximum contact with the truck or other wall support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockdown sign which may readily be mass produced whereby to permit shop assembly on a local basis of uniform signs for a uniform fleet of trucks although the latter may have considerable wall structure variation therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockdown mass production sign of high quality which permits quality and design control whereby to match and set off properly expensive truck body construction in high quality truck fleets.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal sign adapted for both truck side and wall application which is of minimum thickness with maximum strength and also provides a backing which can take paste and paper and the removal of the same, including soaking.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockdown metal sign for application to truck body walls or other wall supports wherein individual panels are removable for replacement, repair or access to the supporting wall or truck side.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a minimum thickness sign construction particularly adapted for application to truck body sides and employing mounting means which permit mounting of the sign either on corrugated or flat walled truck sides whereby to permit complete flexibility in placing of the sign on a truck side wall.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockdown metal sign construction for application to any support means, including truck body sides, wherein only three basic elements, all identical to other members of 3,148,471 Patented Sept. 15., 1964 like construction are required, namely, the panels, the vertical moldings and the horizontal moldings, whereby to completely avoid any problems of rights and lefts.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear in the course of the following description thereof.

In the drawings, which form a part of the instant specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith, an embodiment of the invention is shown and, in the various views, like numerals are employed to indicate like parts.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the assembled construction with portions thereof cut away to show the interengagement of individual panels at their vertical edges.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail of FIG. 3 showing the engagement of the panel upper and lower horizontal edges with the horizontal engaging tracks of the horizontal moldings.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 3 and 4, at 10 is shown a support such as a wall or a wooden rigidifying brace for a truck body side wall, the latter having an outside metal facing sheet 11. Sheet 11 may be corrugated, but, in the instance shown, is a flat sheet of metal. Mounted on the supporting wall or surface at vertically spaced positions and at periodically spaced lateral intervals are a plurality of supporting straps or members generally designated 12. Straps 12 include downwardly extending rear flanges 12a outwardly extending portions 12b, and upwardly extending front flanges 12c. Flanges 12a are provided with openings 13 therethrough which are adapted to match with openings 14 formed through metal sheet 11 and recesses 15 formed in the wall or backing 10 in order to receive conventional attaching means therein, such as screws, bolts or expandable bolts of conventional type such as shown at 16. Bolt 16 may employ washers 17, as well as con ventional expandable rubber sleeve 18 carrying lock nut 19. Rotation of bolt 16 in sleeve 18 compacts sleeve 18 on the bolt shaft to seize the bolt assembly in recess 15. Another opening 20 is provided in upper flange to receive the assembly of bolt 21 and nut 22.

Turning to the panel molding construction, which also serves as the support for the panel array, the upper horizontal molding includes a horizontal trough having upwardly extending front wall 23 and upwardly extending rear wall 24, the trough substantially U-shaped in cross section. An opening 25 is formed in trough rear wall 24 to receive the shaft of bolt 21 whereby to removably engage trough wall 24 with front flange 120 of upper mounting members 12. Opening 23a is formed through trough front wall 23 to give access to bolts 21. The molding trough comprises a continuous horizontal structure having spaced openings 25 and 23a formed in the rear and front walls thereof to periodically removably engage members 12. To form an upper protective molding, rear wall 24 of the molding trough extends upwardly as at 24a (FIG. 3), then is crimped forwardly and downwardly whereby a front face 26 of the molding overlies the upper end of front wall 23 of the molding trough. The lower end 27 of face 26 is crimped rearwardly and slightly upwardly whereby to lie against and in abutment with the front surfaces of the panel array, to be described.

Turning to the lower horizontal molding, this structure is identical to the construction of the upper molding, except in that it is mounted upside down relative to the upper molding. Therefore, all the identical parts thereof will be numbered the same as the corresponding parts of the upper molding, but primed. Thus it will be observed that a lower molding trough is provided, but one which opens downwardly, rather than upwardly. Additionally, it will be seen that the molding trough of the lower molding is to be engaged by the lower edge of the panel array and has front molding face 26' to overlie the lower front ends of the panels and front flange 23' of the lower molding trough. Since the upper and lower molding constructions are identical in structure, they are interchangeable. The end edges of the upper and lower moldings are mitered as seen at 26a and 26a in FIG. 1. The rear flanges 24a and 24a are also mitered, but this is not seen in the view.

Turning to the panel array made up of individual, side edge engageable panels, each such panel comprises an elongate face portion 28, preferably formed of a single ply thickness of metal or other suitable substance, such as aluminum and of substantially greater vertical length than horizontal width. An upper engaging flange having a downwardly extending trough engaging member 29 next to the rear face of panel 28 is provided adjacent the upper end of each panel, preferably by crimping over the upper edge of the panel. When the upper edge of the panel is crimped over to provide engaging flange 29, this avoids the necessity of welding or otherwise attaching such an engaging flange. Flange 29 may be slidably engaged with upwardly extending front wall 23 of the upper molding trough. The downwardly extending length of panel flange 29 must not be so great that its lower edge will hit bolt 21 before the panel is supported on the upper edge of molding trough front Wall 23, unless it is desired that the bolts 21 carry the weight of the panels. A lower engaging flange 30 is preferably, but not necessarily provided with said flange 30 extending upwardly from a connection adjacent the lower end of the panel to slidably engage with downwardly extending front wall 23 of the lower molding trough. Preferably, again, lower engaging flange 30 comprises the crimped under lower edge of the panel, the upwardly extending length of the crimped under panel edge preferably not suflicient to contact bolts 21' mounting the lower molding trough. The lower engagement illustrated is of considerable use in truck wall mountings to avoid upward vertical movement of the sign face panel array, but it is not required in all mountings, due to the considerable degree of retention of the lower ends of the panel by the molding flange 27' in any case.

Turning particularly to FIG. 2, therein is seen in section the side edge configuration of the panels making up the panel array. Means are provided to permit interengagement of adjacent edges of adjacent panels whereby to control lateral movement of the panel members of the array relative to themselves and to the molding structures at the sides of the panel construction. The panels are mounted on the supporting surface by top and bottom engagement with the molding troughs followed by lateral sliding of the panels across and onto the molding trough system. For the entire array of panels, there is one leading (first) and one following (last) panel. Additionally, each panel in the system has a leading and a following side edge. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, it is assumed for purposes of description that the panels are engaged with the upper and lower molding troughs on the right-hand side of FIGS. 1 and 2 and then slide thereon from right to left. It should be understood that the opposite mode or direction of engagement could be employed merely by inverting each of the panels to be described (having the particular edge engagement construction to be described) whereby the panels could be engaged on the lefthand side of FIGS. 1 and 2 and moved from left to right in the view.

Looking at FIG. 2, all panels and the leading panel 28a (at the left in FIG. 2) have a leading edge engaging flange 29a which extends away from the direction of sliding motion of the panel on the molding troughs (upper and lower engagements) and is positioned behind the front face of the panel, the front face of the panel being that away from supporting wall 10, the rear face being that 4 next to the supporting wall or surface. In the form shown, flange 29a comprises the leading edge of the panel crimped over rearwardly of the front face of the panel and therebehind. However, it should be noted that the leading edge of the panel is crimped over to provide flange 29a only in the vertical portion of the panel below the upper molding trough when the panel is engaged' thereon and above the lower molding trough when the panel is engaged thereon. The remainder of the leading edge of the panel is removed by suitable cutting or sawing processes to permit the sliding engagement of the upper and lower edges of the panel with the molding track.

The following edges of all of the panels, again assuming motion from left to right in FIGS. 1 and 2, are recessed as at 30a to provide an elongate recessed position 31 substantially parallel to the front face of the panel proper with return flange 32 extending in the direction of sliding motion of the panel. Return flange 32 is substantially, but not quite, flush with the front face of the panel proper by a thickness equal to that of the panel face itself. The lateral extension of recessed portions 31 and engaging flanges 32 is slightly greater than the lateral extension of leading edge flanges 29a whereby the adjacent leading and following edges of adjacent panels may be engaged in the manner shown centrally of FIG. 2. It should be noted that the adjacent panels are actually engaged with one another, at adjacent leading and following edges, by a longitudinal sliding motion, rather than a lateral sliding motion due to the flatness of the engaging flanges. This requires that the adjacent panels be engaged with one another before sliding onto the upper and lower molding trough assemblies. Adjacent panels are preferably slidingly engaged in a horizontal position and then elevated to the vertical for engagement with the molding troughs or, further, the molding troughs and panel arrays may all be entirely engaged before raising the entire assembly for mounting on members 12.

The vertical extent of the following edge engaging flanges and recessed portions is substantially that of or identical with that of the leading edge flanges so as not to interfere with the mounting troughs.

Turning to the vertical moldings, the left-hand and right-hand molding construction are identical in their parts and structural and spatial relationships. However, the engagements of the vertical moldings with the edge panels of the panel arrays differ in that one vertical molding engages the leading edge of the leading panel, while the other molding engages the following edge of the following panel of the entire panel array. In the mounting arrangement shown, with the panels being mounted from left to right in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left-hand molding engages the leading edge of the leading panel of the panel array, with the right-hand vertical molding engaging the following edge of the following panel.

Turning to the left-hand vertical molding in FIG. 2, it has a basic trough construction, here vertically oriented and opening to the left, comprising a rear wall 33 having bolt hole 34 therein and front wall 35 having bolt head receiving opening 36 therein. Openings 34 and 36 are strictly analogous to openings 25 and 23a in rear and front walls 24 and 23, respectively (also 23 and 24'), of the upper and lower molding troughs of the horizontal moldings. The engaging bolts and mounting members are not shown in FIG. 2 as they are identical with mounting members 12 and bolts 16 and 21 of FIGS. 3 and 4. Rear wall 33 has elongate extension 37 with a forward return bend from which flange 38 extends inwardly over molding trough wall 35. Rearwardly extending flange 39 contacts the panel front face when the latter is engaged therewith. When the upper and lower moldings have been mounted on support 10 by members 12, the vertical molding which is to receive the leading edge of the leading panel may also be mounted on like members 12 before the application of the panels. As the panels are inserted into the molding system, the leading edge of the leading panel is passed over and finally engaged with front flange 35 of the said first applied vertical molding, here the left-hand one viewed. After this, the other vertical mold is applied.

The upper and lower ends of the vertical moldings are mitered as at 38:: and 38b as seen in FIG. 1, the rear flanges 37 and 34 also being mitered, this not being visible in the views.

As the structure of the right-hand molding in FIGS. 1 and 2 (or the vertical molding which is to engage the following edge of the following panel) is identical to the opposite vertical molding, it will not be redescribed, the identical parts thereof being numbered the same, but primed. However, the engagement of the following edge of the following panel with the vertical molding differs in that recessed portions 39a and 31 of the following edge of the following panel lie within said molding, but with leading recessed portion 30a in substantial abutment with the free edge of outer wall 35' of the molding trough. This provides, between wall 35 and flange 39, a frictional engagement against lateral movement of the panel array from right to left in FIG. 2. It should be emphasized, that, by inversion of the entire panel array, the right-hand molding in FIG. 2 would become that molding engaging the leading edge of the leading panel and the left-hand molding that engages the following edge of the following panel. In such case, the right-hand molding in FIG. 2 would be put on first with the lefthand molding being put on after panel engagement with the panel array fully in place.

As the sequence in operation of mounting the moldings, both horizontal and vertical and the panel arrays relative to them have already been described, it will not be redescribed. However, to remove the panel system, the vertical molding engaging the following edge of the following panel is first removed, then one, several or all of the panels may be removed from the system. In individual disengagement, by moving the panel from right to left, the edge engagement may be slipped. The entire panel array may be removed by first moving them as a body to the left in FIG. 2 to disengage the leading edge of the leading panel against the resilient action of flanges 38 and 39, then pulling the panel array to the left in sliding fashion on the horizontal molding troughs.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without U reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A sign construction comprising an elongate horizontal molding member trough substantially U-shaped in cross section to provide a front and rear face thereof, means for mounting said molding member trough on a support with the U open upwardly, a plurality of vertically elongate panels each having a front face and a rear face, each said panel having a depending engaging flange on the upper rear face thereof to slidingly engage said molding member trough front face for support of said panel thereby, an elongate horizontal lower trough substantially U-shaped in cross section to provide a front and rear face thereof, mounting means therefor adapted to fix same relative to a support with the U open downwardly, a lower engaging flange on the lower portion of the rear face of each said panel adapted to engage the front face of said lower trough, said lower panel engaging flanges extending upwardly, the adjacent side edges of adjacent ones of said panels flanged in substantial U-shape in cross section for vertical edge engagement of adjacent panels, one panel with another, said panels vertically engaged with one another at adjacent edges and horizontally engaged with said troughs to present a unitary sign face, and a molding structure connected to the rear face of said molding member trough and having a portion thereof overlying the upper face portions of said panels and their engagement with said molding member trough.

2. A sign construction as in claim 11 wherein the lower trough has a molding member attached to the rear face thereof having a portion thereof which overlies the lower front face portions of the panels engaged with the lower trough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,742,667 Purdy Ian. 7, 1930 1,886,899 Overholtz Nov. 8, 1932 2,048,359 Snell July 21, 1936 2,772,495 Daniels Dec. 4, 1956 2,775,833 Wishart Jan. 1, 1957 2,876,566 Harrington Mar. 10, 1959 2,901,849 Callison Sept. 1, 1959 2,993,289 Miller July 25, 1961 

1. A SIGN CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING AN ELONGATE HORIZONTAL MOLDING MEMBER TROUGH SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED IN CROSS SECTION TO PROVIDE A FRONT AND REAR FACE THEREOF, MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID MOLDING MEMBER TROUGH ON A SUPPORT WITH THE U OPEN UPWARDLY, A PLURALITY OF VERTICALLY ELONGATE PANELS EACH HAVING A FRONT FACE AND A REAR FACE, EACH SAID PANEL HAVING A DEPENDING ENGAGING FLANGE ON THE UPPER REAR FACE THEREOF TO SLIDINGLY ENGAGE SAID MOLDING MEMBER TROUGH FRONT FACE FOR SUPPORT OF SAID PANEL THEREBY, AN ELONGATE HORIZONTAL LOWER TROUGH SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED IN CROSS SECTION TO PROVIDE A FRONT AND REAR FACE THEREOF, MOUNTING MEANS THEREFOR ADAPTED TO FIX SAME RELATIVE TO A SUPPORT WITH THE U OPEN DOWNWARDLY, A LOWER ENGAGING FLANGE ON THE LOWER PORTION OF THE REAR FACE OF EACH SAID PANEL ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE FRONT FACE OF SAID LOWER TROUGH, SAID LOWER PANEL ENGAGING FLANGES EXTENDING UPWARDLY, THE ADJACENT SIDE EDGES OF ADJACENT ONES OF SAID PANELS FLANGED IN SUBSTANTIAL U-SHAPE IN CROSS SECTION FOR VERTICAL EDGE ENGAGEMENT OF ADJACENT PANELS, ONE PANEL WITH ANOTHER, SAID PANELS VERTICALLY ENGAGED WITH ONE ANOTHER AT ADJACENT EDGES AND HORIZONTALLY ENGAGED WITH SAID TROUGHS TO PRESENT A UNITARY SIGN FACE, AND A MOLDING STRUCTURE CONNECTED TO THE REAR FACE OF SAID MOLDING MEMBER TROUGH AND HAVING A PORTION THEREOF OVERLYING THE UPPER FACE PORTIONS OF SAID PANELS AND THEIR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID MOLDING MEMBER TROUGH. 